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By Sam Smith | 10.31.2014 | 9:54 a.m. CT | asksam@bulls.com | @SamSmithHoops
Once again I’m excited about the promise of the 2014-15 season. I love the way Rose has looked, but I still watch him with nervous excitement and fear. As always standing in our way is LeBron and now the Cavs but this is still the best team Thibs has had assuming Rose can be himself for an entire season. I think the SF position (Dunleavy, McDermott) can be the ultimate hurdle for us against teams like OKC, Spurs, Cavs. I like both players but ideally coming off the bench would best suit them. I know Butler is interchangeable but Hinrich has to come in and play the 2 guard for Butler to play SF. I think Batum, Wes Matthews, Deng (lol), Afflalo—do you see a guy like that being available at the trade deadline to help the Bulls?
James Nelson
It looks like from the preseason games and this first game that the Bulls should have one of those regular seasons where there is someone different each game leading in scoring or having the most impact. It is nice to see, and I know Rose will still be the main scorer when all said and done, but this is the depth Thibs needed to show that he can manage the minutes the best way for the team and it doesn't have to be Gasol or Rose leading every game. By the way, I know it's extremely early to say this, but I think most fans can agree how much we really like how McDermott plays both ends of the court, what a great draft day trade.
Jon Kueper
So apparently Aaron Brooks is awesome. Any chance Thibs makes him the first guard off the bench even when Butler is back? Brooks and Gibson as first subs in is pretty lethal. Then bring Kirk in for butler later on. What would you do?
Billy Habibi
How different would the Bulls' lineup look this year if Luol Deng had accepted the Bulls' offer last December? Would there have been enough money for Gasol? Mirotic? Would we still have Boozer?
Alex Hartzler
Is Mike Dunleavy poised to be the most unlikely DPoY ever?
Matthew Hemphill
Whew that was close! The Bulls caught a real break there, while I like Carmelo's ability to score, he stops the ball and I believe by the time he figures out how to play in the triangle, he will need lots of help. Perhaps he's this generations Adrian Dantley or Mark Aguirre, and will have to come to grips with being moved to a contender late in his career.
Stephen Fulton
I'm wondering what your insight is about Tony Snell. I thought this was a kid with a really high upside coming out as a shooter who is long and athletic. That shot hasn't translated yet, but by all accounts it seems like he would be a prototypical Thibs type guy. I seem to recall some rumblings about Snell being in the dog house with Thibs earlier on in the pre-season, but then I never heard much follow up on that. Was there anything to that? Looks like Tony spent the summer in the gym and doesn't have much to show for it.
Henry Harriman
This is just a thought, but what if Thibs were to experiment with Gasol and Gibson starting and have Noah come off the bench? I understand the point about the best players deserving to start, but I do think that in the end, it depends more about the number of minutes played versus who starts and who doesn't. Not to mention that I think that Noah would be okay with it since he wants to win more than anything. The rationale is that with Gasol at center and Gibson at PF, the offense would probably be a little more fluid with Rose/Gasol running a lot of pick and roll since I find that Gasol seems to get most of his points at the elbow for jumpers rather than your traditional back-to-the-basket moves. That would leave Gibson more at the low post to do what he seems to be excelling at as of late, and give us that option too. If we add in McDermott at the three, I think that would give us good spacing and a lot of options to score to push the tempo early in the game. And since one of our problems with the bench as been distributing and rebounding, Noah would be there to facilitate offense and get second-chance points as I don't think any backup center would be able to match up with him.
Vinay Nagaraj
Has the NBA ever considering doing like baseball and having the all-star game determine home court advantage in the finals so the players would actually play with some motivation?
Trevor Hoffler
Just read Craig Hodges is back. He'll be assistant coaching the Westchester Knicks. Amazing three-point shooter. Do you have any context on if/why he was 'blacklisted?'
Yoni Solomon
Can the Bulls play Noah at the 3 in games against the Cavs?
Brad Erens
First Take had a poll about the best PGs now and all-time. They argued for CP3 and Tony Parker. I always thought Parker was overlooked. All time, Zeke will always be my headliner because of his ability to do so many things well. Your thoughts?
Anthony Reed
Heat looked good last night, especially Wade & Bosh. A couple of the young guys are surprisingly good, especially at putting the ball in the basket from just about anywhere. Miami might just surprise people. It will be interesting to see. They haven’t even gotten to play with Josh McRoberts yet, and that guy can play. If it was a pick between him and Kevin Love, I might lean towards McRoberts. Tough call.
Jeff Lichenstein
I was reading a basketball preview on ESPN and they were ranking teams based on how fun they are to watch. One of the qualifications was the commentators of the team. They had good things to say about our Neil Funk and Stacey King. Then I started wondering... where would you have them ranked among the best team commentators in the NBA. Personally, I love the enthusiasm that Stacey brings along with the old school feel of Neil Funk.
Adam Garcia
All these preseason rankings for individual players as a whole look to be largely swayed by potential rather than current and projected level of talent throughout the season. there is one exception and that seems to be Derrick Rose. I have seen rankings putting Rose behind point guards who he almost always beats matchup-wise, point guards who didn't even make Team USA, point guards who are at most 3 years younger than he, and point guards who have less of an NBA career than the only MVP point guard in the league (sorry Steve Nash). It seems as if they forgot Rose is the youngest .Since player potential was considered, do you still see Rose as not yet reached his ceiling? I feel like he can still reach Allen Iverson talent and ability on top of his NBA frame that AI didn't have.
Adam Gottlieb
Jimmy get his contract signed before Friday?
Jim Harlan
I've watched nearly every game of the Tom Thibodeau era on TV but never in person, and as such have one burning question. Precisely what words do I hear Thibodeau bellowing incessantly throughout every game? It sounds like "DOOO IT!" but I'm not certain. If he's not barking "do it" then what words are he saying? And if he is wailing "do it," what exactly are the players supposed to do and why haven't they done it yet?
Mikolaj Omelanczuk
You failed to mention what would happen if Coach Ditka joins the Bulls.
Frank Cabanski
